41 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 28 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds   

A Bangladeshi Bluestocking

By       (Page 2 of 2 pages) Become a premium member to see this article and all articles as one long page.   2 comments
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Iftekhar Sayeed

I believe there is a verse in the Koran that enjoins women to cover themselves. I shan't go into that here: here, we're dealing with kultur, with highfalutin things and high flown words and ideas.  Now, since this verse may be safely dated to the seventh century, we are equally safe in assuming that the practice of covering-up had not been widespread before. After all, it took a revelation to establish the practice. Hence, we conclude that the relevant verses were an innovation in Arab culture itself: a repudiation of Arab culture, which included especially the repudiation of female infanticide. The newsreader had no more ambition than to be pious according to her understanding of her holy book – not to be an Arab damsel.

Perhaps what is to be truly deplored is not the Arab influence on Bengali – and Indian – culture, but the complete lack thereof. Over centuries, the Arab sirocco from the Hijaz was unable to blow away the practices of female infanticide and the caste system. Indeed, the former has progressed with modernity into female foeticide assisted by the scientific application of sound waves, a practice unknown in the Muslim world because of an Arab who measured his own culture against higher moral standards, and found it lacking.

We have lapsed into tribalism again, in which Bengalis like Neeman Sobhan revel. The Counselor at the Palestinian Embassy was quite chagrined by the lack of display of sympathy for the Gazans in Bangladesh. Over thirty years, he had observed earlier, there had been no public discussion of the Palestinian tragedy. As the Palestinian Ambassador told me in an interview: "Our biggest enemy is the ummah".  

And, he might have added, clothes, cloaks and other covers.

 

 

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Iftekhar Sayeed Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Iftekhar Sayeed teaches English and economics. He was born and lives in Dhaka, à ‚¬Å½Bangladesh. He has contributed to AXIS OF LOGIC, ENTER TEXT, POSTCOLONIAL à ‚¬Å½TEXT, LEFT CURVE, MOBIUS, ERBACCE, THE JOURNAL, and other publications. à ‚¬Å½He (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The Body of William Jay

Cap'n Blimey

On Being a Philosopher

The Logos of Bangladesh

The Seven Dimensions

Democracy: The Historical Accident

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend